401k

7 years with them. Left 8 years ago.

We put in 6% and they put in 3%. Team.

Invested 50% in ODFL stock.

Balances at around $350k collectively, we rolled it over after we left and didn’t start contributing till last year.

Started a ROTH last year too, will start a SEP IRA this year.

Ignore the insignificant reduction in wages and get in. Ignore market swings.

They put a discretionary amount in every year based on profitability.

We invested when it was $17 a share. What is ODFL stock now?

 

I did a 401K, not with Old Dominion. I put the maximum allowed and didn't touch it.
When the market takes a deep dive, most drivers, where I worked, cashed out thinking they were losing money. I ignored the crash and recessions because it doesn't matter; it always recovers. Made out like a bandit!

 

Why not do both? The money Old Dominion is contributing on your behalf is basically free money. Then invest $100 a week into a Roth, you would be in great shape in 25 years.

At this age you should have very little debt, don't be like all those drivers who blow money on $85k pickups and bass boats and have to work just to pay bills.

 

Absolutely you should especially if there is a company match. At least put in enough to get the maximum amount of match. Even though the stock market is in the dumps now, it's probably a good time to start investing. So many young people do not think of what money issues they might have later in life and investing in a 401k is a sound and easy way to insure you are not lacking later in life. I did not really start a 401k until I was 26 but am sure glad I did. Put in as much as you can afford and let it be.

 

If your employer matches your contributions, then contribute enough to get all your company matches. Not all companies with 401k match the employee contribution. But the companies that do match the contribution may match 2-9% of whatever you put into the 401k, up to a maximum dollar amount. If you can afford it, even if it's not easy to afford it, contribute enough of your paycheck to get the maximum that the company will add to your account. The main thing to know is controbuting something is better than nothing. It's probably better to contribute something into the wrong investment inside the 401k than to contribute nothing into the right investment inside your 401K. If you don't know what to invest in look for mutual fund names with "total stock market" or "S&P 500" or "Russel 2000" in their name. Ideally you would want to see the name "Vanguard" or "Fidelity". Those 2 companies have the cheapest fees, often less than 1% fees, and sometimes less that 0.3% fees, or almost no cost to you. I would not put any money in funds with "Wells Fargo" in their name. WF has been busted a few times doing deliberate illegal things with money from customer bank accounts and customer investment funds. WF is called by some people as an organized crime outfit wearing a bank costume.

To participate in the 401k you have to choose what percentage of your pay will go from each paycheck into the 401k. Then you need to choose what investments inside the 401k will get how much of the money you contributed to the 401k.
If you want to learn more about 401ks the best places to learn may be Clark Howard's web site Clark.com. Also Vanguard.com and Fidelity.com.
If you were to contribute just $2,000 per year for about 10-20 years you will retire AT LEAST a millionaire. If you wait until age 30 to start investing you would probably have to contribute close to $15,000 per year to retire a millionaire. Many people, on average, don't start investing for retirement until age 40+ and that requires investing maybe $25,000 per year to achieve millionaire status by retirement age.

Money you invest in your 401k will not be taxed over the years, if tax rules don't change. Every dollar you invest is less income you pay income tax on now.
You are young enough you may be better off using a Roth IRA to invest. The money you invest in a Roth IRA has already been taxed, it is never taxed again, unless tax rules change. I believe you can put $5-6k in every year, or less if you choose to. Also, you can use it as an Emergency fund since you can pull out whatever you have contributed at any time for any reason. You just have to make sure never to remove more money than you contributed or you will pay taxes on that. I resisted opening a Roth IRA because I though it would be trapped for 1-5 years before I could use the money if an emergency came up. You can remove YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS the day after you put them in if you needed to. Don't tap that money for non-emergencies.

You have until the date you file taxes to contribute to either the 401k or the Roth. In either case the money belongs to you, even though your employer is sponsoring the account. It's more important you invest in either or both NOW than which one is perfect if all details are known. Time for compound growth is more important than if your invested money was put into Company A or Company B. Start at Clark.com. He is a consumer affairs radio person, cheaper than anyone you will ever meet, and a smart investor.

 

As much as you can afford. But at the very least, as much as needed to get the full match

 

The ROTH IRA has a firm dollar amount, per year you can contribute. It's $6,000 if you are under 50 years old. If your goal is to put $6k away just divide that amount by the number of pay periods between now and December 31 or April 15.
Retirement Topics - IRA Contribution Limits | Internal Revenue Service

For 401k I would try to start at 10%. The rules changed a few years ago so now every eligible employee is enrolled into a 401k unless they actively opt-out. I think every year or every 2 years your contribution rate will increases by an additional 1%, unless you specify it change by some other amount. If you are new in the job, 10% is pretty reasonable. You can change the amount, if not during the year, you can change it at end of the year or benefits enrollement period, etc. ODFL 401k is probably only going to give you maybe 1-2 dozen mutual funds you can invest in inside the 401k. Some of those may be expensive funds with either a large fee to start, but more usually a large "surrender fee" when you switch out of them later. I would really look at any fund with Fidelity or Vanguard. Even though the stock market is declining now, by investing now you are buying stocks/funds on sale and that increases the likelihood those fund prices grow above average in the future.

With the Roth once you money is inside the ROTH you can invest in a lot more funds, not just the ones your employer ODFL offers. That money should probably go mostly into Vanguard S&P500, Vanguard Total Stock Market Index, or the Fidelity equivalents. Just make sure you keep a total amount you contributed each year as you go along so you don't accidentally withdraw more than your total contributions. If you do you have to pay ordinary income tax on the amount withdrawn that exceeded you contributions. Say you put $3k into your Roth for 2022, you can withdraw $3k the next day, the next month, year or decade and owe no income taxes on that money. If you contributed the same $3k, the stock market grew and that $3k is now worth $4k, you can still only withdraw the $3k even though there is $4k in that Roth. If you withdrew $4k you would owe income tax on $1k ( the amount above your contributions.) So every time you put money in you have the right to withdraw that same amount later. So each year just track what you contributions have been both yearly and total for all years.

I'm no financial expert and I'm not giving you professional advice. I'm just an introvert with Scottish grip on my money and a need to feel like I know everything about where my money is going before I can let it out of my grip. I strongly suggest you read about 401k and Roth IRA at Clark.com He is a genius. Dave Ramsey also has tremendous advice. Either of them will steer you to the right spot and most of my research is along the lines they advise. The main point is the money you can invest now will be worth lots and lots more than the money you might feel more comfortable investing in 10 years. Your company can't steal your 401K, he worst they can do is offer you expensive mutual funds that will eat away at your gains with high fees. You would never have to pay out of your pocket for those fee they just take their fee out of your account. The 401k money when you retire will be taxed as you withdraw it. The Roth money will never be taxed again, unless/until they change the tax rules. The 401k has a better tax advantage to you know than the Roth, but the Roth has more flexibility, gives you more control, is simpler in some ways. If you can do both, do both to the maximum you can afford. I don't know which I would pick if you could only do one to the max. The 401k allows more money to be put away each year, but you have fewer choices and that may mean more of your money is taken in fees by the only mutual funds available. After you put money in either of them, don't look at your account more than once per year. Ignore stock market ups and downs. If you want to be extra safe and run on autopilot, put 1/3 of your money (401k or Roth) in govt bonds, 1/3 in stock market, and 1/3 in money market (a mostly safe cash equivalent). If you do that as the economy goes up or down one of those 1/3s will increase as the others decrease. That's super conservative, maybe too conservative for your young age. Its more important you invest know than EXACTLY you invest in, the more the better. Oh and your 401k money is yours even if you leave ODFL, you can transfer it to a traditional IRA, an investment company like Vanguard, or even into a Roth IRA as long as you pay taxes on what you transfer into Roth and don't exceed the yearly limits for Roth IRA contributions.

Sorry for the long answers. I don't your level of information/understanding on the subject, but when it comes to any subject I never feel like I have enough info to make a decision until I have every bit of information, especially when it comes to money. My Scottish ancestors would never forgive me for wasting a penny if reading one more article could have prevented it.